The revolution will not be televised.
Rarely has a TV show title been more apt than 'Any Dream Will Do', certainly for the lead singer of Mosquito. Having tried his luck at breaking into the musical world through the tortuous route of reality TV, it turns out that Seamus Cullen has trotted back to his band and the ensuing increased attention has resulted in the release of their EP, 'The Crying Girl.' So when the dream of being Mr. Lloyd Webber's new plaything falls through, then it's back to the dream of being in a band and making it for real in the harsh music world. You wonder what his bandmates make of it all, perhaps they are all in on the dream as well?
Any performance that he may have had on the show won't have any influence on this review as...well this reviewer isn't a dull middle-aged woman or hen-pecked husband who would waste their time in watching some tripe but you know, each to their own and all that.
'The Crying Girl' track is probably the best here and it does manage to capture the sound of the Manic Street Preachers as they hit a down point in their career but Cullen does come close to capturing some of the pathos that James Dean Bradfield instils in his delivery. Musically, it's interesting enough but just the right side of mainstream so as not alienate or confuse anyone.
Unfortunately though, it's book ended by two rather insipid tracks that fail to excite or have any moments that would carry a crowd along. 'Heal Me' has some quick guitar fills that John Squire may have decided were a touch on the dramatic side for The Seahorses but that aside, it's a quiet song that fails to excite.
To be fair to Cullen, his voice is the strongpoint and yes, there are comparisons to James Dean Bradfield when it is at its best, however there are moments when he tries to stretch and it comes across like many of the Thom Yorke impersonators who fail miserably to replicate the standards set by him.
Is it an alright release? Nah, it probably falls just short of that although the title track is worthy of a listen.
Do reality TV shows turn off this reviewer? Yeah pretty much, to this mind it just smacks of people wanting to be famous for the sake of it and the speed of this release following on from the show does seem to be cashing in on it. If the songs were of a brilliant quality, it wouldn't matter that much but Mosquito have probably gotten this far because of what they can shove into a press release as opposed to what music they've recorded.